2nd Game vs. Stockholm

We were in downtown Stockholm and running late. Joaquim's driving exam was taking longer than expected and I was waiting at the car with Alexis and Timor. Joaquim finally arrived and after a couple traffic jams we made it to the field...at 6:30pm, so the game was just starting. Considering the 1 through 4 hitters from the last game were sitting in that car, the rest of the team was somewhat upset.

Joaquim and Timor subbed in for the second inning, while Alexis and I waited on the bench. I was only allowed to pitch six innings in this game because of the Swedish rules regarding American players, so Sergio was pitching the first 3 innings for us. When he left the game we were losing 3-2, but it was my time to show my teammates why they brought me here.

Since I got here a week ago, all anyone's ever said to me is, ''Oh! You throw 80! That's really fast! Great heat! You'll be great!'' I assumed this meant Swedish hitters couldn't hit that speed, so I decided to throw more fastballs than usual. I throw a fastball, and the first hitter is behind it and fouls it off. I'm dreaming of 20 strikeout games. I throw another fastball, and the lefty singles between third and short! What? Must have got lucky. The next guy I start off with the fastball for a strike, then a curve ball for a strike. I'll just finish him with a fastball. Single over the second baseman's head. I can see the looks the rest of the team is giving each other. Okay, time to get serious. The next hitter gets on by a fielder's choice, but we get the runner at 2nd, one out. Then I struck the next guy out, swinging at a curve ball. That's better. The next kid is a righty with a slow bat, so I shake to an inside fastball. I jam the crap out of him, but he somehow pops it just over the 2nd baseman's head for a hit. God dammit. I get the next guy to ground out, but I'm a little pissed.

The next inning, a left-handed hitter leads off. I throw a curve ball for a strike, and then a fastball inside. HE PULLS IT!!! He pulls it down the line for a triple. WTF. Well, I hope these guys like not-fastballs, because that's what they're getting. Oh course, the next curve ball I throw bounces off our God-awful plate, scoring the guy from third. All I can say is : . For the next 15 outs, though, I gave up 2 hits and there wasn't a single ball that left the infield. So much for my heat. My team scored 1 run in the 6th, and 3 in the 8th, to win the game 6-5.

I struck out the last guy to end the game, and what ensued was both sad and funny. Everyone on the team started jumping around like we had won the league title, and everyone hugged me after the game. There were lots of hugs, actually, most in the ''We made it!'' style. I guess things get pretty bad when you don't win for a month. Everyone liked me before, but let me tell you they love me now. And that's despite going 0 for 3 on three ground outs.